FAIRY TAIL 281 – Malice is Concealed by the Curtain of Night

I think Random Curiosity needs more FAIRY TAIL, so I’ve decided to cover the manga too!

As you might’ve noticed, I’ll be using a different format in my manga post (as the rebel I am), which will include a summary. I’m just testing this out for my first post, so feel free to leave some constructive criticism!

Summary:

The second day of the Grand Magic Games ends, and we find Erza meeting up with Jellal beneath a bridge. They’re discussing the sudden disappearance of the magical energy, an energy related to Zeref that the magic council has felt every year. Jellal concludes the discussion by saying he’ll look into it. They both smile and part ways.

Meanwhile, at Sabertooth’s guild, Jiemma (the guild master) is punishing some of the guild members. Sting gets a final chance (after his bad performance on the Chariot event) while Yukino is forced to strip and remove her guild mark – getting kicked out from the guild, quite a harsh decision according to some guild members.

On another side of the city, we find Lucy taking a stroll with Natsu, Wendy, and their Exceed partners – Happy and Charle. They’re talking about Gray who got snatched away by Lyon – I assume it’s for this reason. They don’t go anywhere further in that discussion as they run into Yukino.

Going back to Erza, we find her running into an old friend – Millianna, who is now a guild member of Mermaid Heel! They sit down and chat – a friendly conversation about Kagura and her sword – Archenemy, until Jellal is brought up. It seems that Millianna holds a grudge on Jellal for what he did during the Tower of Heaven arc and so does Kagura, whose sword is meant to kill Jellal.

Since I mentioned that I shipped two couples in FAIRY TAIL, people have been asking me which the second couple was – I couldn’t tell it in my anime post because it’d be a spoiler, but this chapter is perfect for bringing that up – the second couple I ship is Erza and Jellal!

I must say that I feel very sorry for Yukino. Sabertooth is a shady guild, but that treatment was just cruel. I’m assuming this might fuel Natsu’s rage? It seems to me that most evil guilds treat their members like trash, and then Natsu yells at them for doing so, starting a fight. It’s the most common pattern in FAIRY TAIL – not that I mind.

Overall, it was quite nice to see a calm chapter with nothing but story development and a good pacing. Recently, there have been so many battles (and they end so fast), so it was nice to have more text to read. I’m a bit upset over the fact that nothing was revealed about Lucy. She is the main focus of the current antagonists, and I’ve been dying to know their plans since that was revealed. But on the other hand, this new plot twist concerning Jellal seems interesting too. I feel a bit sorry for the man, he is disliked by so many – which is reasonable considering what he has done (even though he wasn’t in control of himself doing it).

With that being said, I hope you enjoyed this surprise. Normally, FAIRY TAIL chapters are released around Friday/Saturday but because of the Golden Week in Japan, the manga release schedules have been pretty messy. This chapter was supposed to come out last week but was postponed to the middle of this week. The chapter that should’ve been out by now for this week is nowhere to be seen. I have no idea when it’ll show up, but I might end up doing a second manga post later today!

sabertooth is pretty messed up, they didn’t have to go that far! i’m thinking yukino will either join fairy tail or mermaid hell but i would rather she gave her golden keys to lucy. chapter 282 is out?!! really?? thanks, now i’ve found something to do. \(^O^)/

That Jiemma guy is an obvious parody of Akuma from Street Fighter xD. Basically Akuma with beard. But thanks man! I was really hoping someone would take the mantle for Fairy Tail’s manga here! You’re the best!

asdfasfds the first time I visit RC in a long time and I see you’re covering the manga now. YOSHA. What a nice welcome :D!
Think Erza will be torn b/w possible lover (because I love these two to bits; that look she gives him and they say good night to each other) and her old best friend.
I’m really looking forward to an Erza vs. Kagura show down.

Sabertooth’s master may be messed up, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to like about the guild. In fact, I’m saying this because, for the first time, I’m starting to genuinely feel emotionally concerned for these people.

I feel I can never get to know a guild in this series until I see its master and what values he or she upholds. Sure, Yukino’s fate makes me feel sorry for her, but everyone in this guild is constantly under pressure to succeed. Apparently Sting has adapted to this way of life more than anyone else, so he’s the one I feel the most distant from. Everyone else showed a twinge of uneasiness at Yukino’s fate–Rogue especially, who I’m surprised Hiro showed demonstrating emotion this early in the games. I can really admire how he’d rather see his guild as a place where others should be encouraged rather than being forced to their limits just to show the world that they mean business. His now evident closeness to Frosch is what makes him, currently, my favorite member of Sabertooth. I just have to wonder if we’ve seen the extent of his depth of character, because I seriously doubt we have, so there’s room for my perception of him to change further still…

Yeah there needs to be an OP blogger, at least for the manga. Kiiragi did a great job, but he stopped a while ago. A blogger for Toriko and HxH (whenever it returns) would also be great. I mean the latest chapters for Bleach and Naruto have been complete jokes.

Also Fairy Tail isn’t exactly a series I like to put it lightly (but hey, the more series covered, the better I suppose). And the worst thing about Fairy Tail is Gerard/Jellal/Siegrain/Mystogan/whatever the hell his name is.

I’ll agree with you on the show, that it’s probably not worth covering. The anime is covered by Toei so they have to stretch their budget over thousands of episodes, meaning that animation and art are usually pretty average. One Piece also has a loyal enough following so that people will continue to watch regardless of quality. Granted the voice actors are really talented and vibrant colors are nice.

There’s also some gripes with the adaptation itself. There’s a bit of censorship of course, but what bothered me the most was their take on Hodi’s story. In the anime they showed Hodi getting attacked by humans in order to fill out the episode. This particularly stupid because it straight up undermines the point of Hodi as a character.

But if you’re knocking on the comic I gotta stop you lol. OP, HxH, and Berserk are probably the three ongoing series where I’ll chime in to defend. That’s not to say they’re above criticism though, if that makes any sense.

While I consider FT a pleasant read, the way the author tends to turn almost every villain into a good guy (especially anything that has boobs) for whatever reason (mainly Natsu shouting the usual cliche hot blooded shonen lecture and gaining a two chapter long ridiculous power up)and giving happily-ever-after resolution to every single source of conflict take a lot away from the drama. Who cares if nekogirl has a serious grudge against Jellal? It’s gonna be soooooooooooo fine.

Not all villains were turned into a good guy. But the author once mentioned in an interview that he believed in redemption and second chances, which is why we see quite a few former villains becoming good guys and allies of Fairy Tail in the end. Personally I think it is rather cool since in most shounen mangas, we are simply given a villain as an antagonist and they stay that way until they are killed off. It also allows for alot more expansion into a story in that former villains like Jellal have to deal with the consequence of what they had done in the past.

I definitely prefer we get more than one picture in a manga post like this one. But summaries I don’t think we need one. Just my two cents Stereoman :)

About the chapter, it’s okay. Mashima’s characters are definitely drawn well, most notably with Yukino’s naked body and Milliana’s new look.
And Jellal really can’t take a break can he? But he’s Mashima’s favorite character so he’ll survive this.
Good chapter overall.

Thank you for the advice! I added the summary just to have enough text to make this layout work. You’re not the first one who said that the summary was unnecessary. I’ll try and come up with a new layout for next chapter! Once again, thank you!

And I agree with you, Mashima’s art is really impressive. Something else that I find impressive about him and his style is his speed. Have you seen him draw? The speed is insane considering the amazing result!

Oh.. yay. Another Jellal sub-plot. It’s not like I don’t like Jellal, I ship Erza x Jellal, too but every arc after the Tower of Heaven arc involves Jellal one way or another. It wouldn’t be too bad if I actually liked his character. I don’t like it how a truly evil person suddenly becomes a good guy. That’s the reason why I dropped Code Breaker.

Anyways, yay. I presume Yukino is gonna give her keys to Lucy. Yay for 13 keys of the Zodiac!

I hope Yukino joins Fairy Tail. We see this pattern alot, new members from past rival guilds join as new FT members. Yukino looks like someone who might get along with Lucy well, both being stellar mages and all.

Looks like trouble is brewing for Gerard again. Poor guy cant catch a break, first his loss against Jura, now this, haha. Hope Erza sets her old friend straight.

Wow. Thanks for covering this! I love Fairy Tail, but it’s not as popular as the Big 3 manga, so it never seems to get much coverage. I appreciate the summary blurb section.

I know a lot of people don’t like FT (and especially Jellal, haha) for one reason or another, but it’s cool in my book. It’s certainly repetitive at times, but I kind of expect that with nearly all of the manga I read these days.

Finally some Fairy Tail manga coverage. Sabretooth, Sabretooth… was it just me or did Jiemma look a whole lot like Heihachi from Tekken? This is the guild that I have been craving since Fairy Tail came into publication, a guild comprised with the motto that only the strong survive. yeah Jiemma’s methods are harsh but that’s what it takes to survive in a magic filled world to be the best. I just don’t see this guild as being “evil” more-so healthy competition and an eventual ally of Fairy Tail. It’s been 7 years, it’s about time the world stopped depending on the whole “my friends are my power” and started relying on their own strengths! As far as Jellal is concerned….just die already, it would be satisfying and fuel for Erza to fight Kagura full on which is definitely what Mashima is setting up. oh yeah by the way Show Spoiler ▼